Paula Lind Ayres's Sacrifice

The first interesting quote, “the selfless work of these entertainers… amounting to the astounding total of eighty-eight million” discuss the risky job of entertaining soldiers in order to boost morale, lessen fatigue as well as decrease anxiety. Some of these routines were performed with ear shot of grueling combat. These groups became known as the “singing army” and are interesting due to the fact that these artistes put themselves in harm’s way to help alleviate soldiers. The second interesting ‘quote’ is a string of quotes, “She determined that ragtime… most of the boys are singing with me” in which they discuss how Paula Lind Ayres was able to develop a “treatment” for those affected with shell shock. Her initial investigation found …show more content…
She risked her own well-being to promote the well-being of others, not being she was forced, but because she felt it was the right thing to do with her talent. She performed into her later years until her untimely death. Although unfortunate, it was with great pride to how many lives she positively impacted throughout her life. The first thing I learned was the origins of PTSD and its diagnosis. The military and physicians at the time did not understand the correlation between the treacherous conditions, bombardments, and general exposure to war trauma. The side effects of war puzzled physicians as PTSD could not be solved by standardized health care, as we now know today. The second thing I learned was just the biography of Miss Paula Lind Ayres, one of the first to produce a successful attempt at using music to improve quality of life for soldiers fighting overseas. She discovered the effectiveness of familiar, live singing to improve the conditions of suffering patients. Her contribution can be further examined and used to treat patients with music therapy for conditions not yet fully understood or